Top Hat StudiosGames like Hades have shown us that the afterlife can be just as good of a starting point for games as an endpoint. Dying is never really the end in games after all, and breaking out of the underworld rather than accepting your fate makes a lot of sense if it’s on the table. A new action RPG on Xbox Game Pass takes the end of its character’s life as the start of its adventure, with the added benefit of starring an adorable cat.Crypt Custodian starts off with a rather grim premise. You play as a cat named Pluto who’s been hit by a car after escaping from your loving home and ended up in the afterlife. As soon as you arrive, you’re told you need to go before Kendra, a frog spirit who sorts the recently departed into the good and bad realms. Kendra decrees that Pluto has been a very good cat (as all cats are, even if they spend half their time being destructive little monsters like mine do), but there’s one catch. Upon arriving in the afterlife, Pluto found a broom that they had to use to smash pots that were blocking the way to Kendra’s office, and that one act dooms them forever. As a fitting punishment, Pluto is told to use that broom to serve forever as the janitor of the afterlife — the crypt custodian, if you will.Crypt Custodian is a top-down RPG in the style of 2D Legend of Zelda games. Instead of a sword, you’re equipped with your trusty broom, and as the game progresses, you’ll also unlock special attacks that recharge when you defeat enemies and upgrades that add passive effects to your character. These start off with simple abilities like an aura that damages nearby enemies or a boost to your attack power at full health, but later options get considerably wilder, like an upgrade that makes defeated enemies explode into a shower of projectiles that can hurt their allies. Figuring out a combination of upgrades that works best for how you like to play is one of the best parts of combat, scratching the same itch as Hollow Knight’s charms.If there’s one big drawback to Crypt Custodian, it’s that it largely feels like a collection of ideas you’ve probably seen before in similar games. It follows a familiar loop of exploring one open area after the next, taking on a boss to unlock new abilities, then using those abilities to open paths to the next area or finding secrets in places you’ve already explored. That’s the standard Metroidvania formula that plenty of games build on, and Crypt Custodian doesn’t do much to shake it up.Crypt Custodian’s broom-based combat is satisfying and tricky. | Top Hat StudiosWhat makes the game worth playing is that it executes on all of that exceptionally well. All of your combat moves feel snappy and special abilities all have clear uses in different situations. Its suite of upgrades contains far more interesting options than just basic stat boosts, and bosses strike a nice balance of being challenging without overwhelming.Maybe the best argument for Crypt Custodian comes down to pure vibes. As a combat-heavy RPG, it can be an intense game at times, and given that it’s essentially set in the animal version of hell, you might expect it to be dark and punishing. On the contrary, Crypt Custodian keeps things light despite its bummer of a premise, with a chill soundtrack and vibrant art that make it one of the chillest action games of its type. Pluto is on a solitary journey through the afterlife, but their interactions with the spirits that inhabit and keep it running keep the tone lighthearted.Crypt Custodian might not bring many new ideas to the Metroidvania genre, but it’s still worth checking out. As difficult as it can be at times, it’s ultimately a laidback take on action RPGs that will win you over with charm as much as mechanical depth.Crypt Custodian is available now on PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, and PC.